he Australians are coming to London – and they want to take Britons back with them to solve a shortage of key workers Down Under.
Teachers, police officers, nurses and doctors are among the targets of government officials from Western Australia who have over 30,000 job vacancies left open by a booming economy. And they are not shy about their intentions.
“We are here to steal your workers,” said Paul Papalia, the police and defence industry minister, who will lead a delegation that arrives in the UK on February 25.
The misson’s timing comes toward the end of a winter in which strikes have ravaged Britain, closing schools and taking healthcare workers off wards in the biggest wave of industrial action in decades.
With double-digit inflation looking stubborn and high energy bills leaving the cost-of-living crisis in full swing, the prospect of a better-paid life in a sunnier climate could be an easy sell. The post-Brexit free trade agreement between the UK and Australia, due to take effect this year, could also help via simplified visa arrangements.
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Buying, selling or renting, expert insight unlocks the property marketNurses are able to earn almost three-fifths more in Western Australia than in the UK, according to the politicians from Perth, with average workers in the state taking home some of the highest average wages in the country. Car industry staff could double their income, they claimed, while secondary school teachers are on the equivalent of £52,567.
